If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If you were a user on the old set up, please use the forgot password option as the old passwords did not transfer for security reasons.
We use advance spam bot detection methods if you are unable to register please contact the Administrator.

If you are a first time poster, your posts will have to be approved by a moderator. Approval may take 24 hours or more. Once you have an approved post approval is no longer needed. REQUESTING APPROVAL OF YOUR POST WILL NOT GET IT APPROVED ANY FASTER.

The Far Reaches: An Online Universe Simulation

The Far Reaches is an online game designed to feel like a living, breathing universe. Explore a galaxy, uncover secrets, and carve out your own adventure in a virtual world like no other.

The Far Reaches (TFR) is an MMO that aims to push the boundaries of virtual worlds. Rather than focusing on quests, static content, and linear progression, TFR provides a gameplay framework that enables players to carve out virtual lives. The goal is to create an immersive, believable, fun experience that offers depth and complexity beyond what players can find in traditional MMORPGs.

If this sounds interesting to you, take a look at Voyager Games' website and explore the gameplay TFR has to offer. Check out gameplay videos and in-depth tutorials and guides to see details of the project:http://voyagergames.com

Features of TFR include:

-Persistent NPCs that are much more like actual characters than walking targets.
NPCs live in the world just like player characters and are bound by nearly all of the same rules of the universe. Their AI is a based on goal-directed intelligence that drives them to pursue objectives like players would, such as accumulating wealth or securing territory. They form associations, build structures, work jobs, have memories, maintain relationships with player characters, spread rumors, have personalities, and do a great many other things to make them interesting and fun.

-A player driven economy where nearly all usable items are made by players.
Crafting in TFR is designed to be complex and thought provoking, with a very high skill cap to separate talented smiths from amateurs. Building a business in TFR is more than assembling identical items from identical components and listing them on an auction house. Meta-mechanics mechanics like advertising, acquiring ideal real estate for your shop, and building strong relationships with customers all play a crucial role in building a successful enterprise in TFR.

Player Structures and Cities
Players in TFR can change the universe by building houses, factories, military bases, and other structures in the open world. A system for player cities allows enterprising players to band together to build settlements with a variety of perks, and the city system includes management and administration functions to add depth and nuance. Mayors can zone parts of their cities for NPC residents, vying with other mayors to attract rare, specialized NPCs that can benefit all of the city's player residents.

Faction Driven, Open World PvP
TFR is designed with an open world, high stakes PvP system. Certain structures are destroyable by members of opposing factions, and these bases are intended to allow players to drive the game's conflict. The system allows players a high degree of freedom in participating or not participating in the system, allow players who prefer to avoid PvP to stay out of fighting when they want to. Like all of TFR, PvP has no instanced content (battlegrounds or instanced arenas), as the whole of the galaxy is the players' battleground.

There are a great many other features including skill-based, nonlinear progression, a wide variety of gameplay options, and a system of limited-use secrets for players to uncover. I'd recommend looking over the website if you'd like to learn more.

State of Development
TFR has been in full time development for about a year, and full time coding for the last 5 months. The whole of the universe framework is in place, and many features (including skills, several professions, natural resources, crafting, character customization, communication, NPCs, NPC housing, and much more) are currently in place. The combat system and player cities are not yet fully implemented, but TFR exists as a playable, closed alpha. I decided that the project has enough features in place to start community building in the run up to release, and I'm immensely excited to share TFR with gamers.

About Voyager Games
Voyager Games is a very small, indie game company that started working on TFR full time last year. I write all the code for the project myself, and while it's very ambitious in its aims, progress has been fantastic. If you'd like to know more about Voyager Games and how the project got started, check out the link below:http://voyagergames.com/voyager-games/

If you've got any questions, feel free to ask them here, or to join the official TFR forums linked from the website. If you'd like to follow the project's updates, check the "Updates" section of the websites for major developments and blog posts, and follow me on Twitter @VoyagerGames to see what I'm working on.